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THE 


CRYSTAL 

LOCKET 


BY 

Nellie M. Rowe 


PICTURES BY 




Elizabeth Enright 











Class ... JcfT. 1_ 

Book_ l lELlB— 

Copyright N°. Q j . 


GDEBSIGHT DEPOSIT. 




















































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THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


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THE BEAUTIFUL LADY WAS SURROUNDED AS USUAL BY THE CHILDREN 














Copyright, 1935, by 

Albert Whitman & Company 


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Printed in the U. S. A. 


idSl 111935 

©ClA 8821 6 




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PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD 

The Crystal Locket is a collection of nine folk 
tales. All of the stories are centered about the 
experiences of a famous crystal locket. This locket 
is a priceless heirloom, is still in existence and, like 
Hitty, has had a very interesting life. 

Nellie M. Rowe is the librarian of the Greensboro 
Public Library, Greensboro, North Carolina. 














CONTENTS 


PAGE 


AN IRISH STORY—The Crystal Locket. 19 

A RAINBOW STORY—Iris of the Rainbow.... 31 

AN ALPINE STORY—The Goat Whose Ears 

Went Wrong. 50 

A TRAVEL STORY—Treasures from a 

Lacquer Box. 65 

A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS—The 

Carrier Pigeon. 78 

A SOUTHERN STORY—Southern Gold_ 92 

A BOOK WEEK STORY—The Kitten That 

Was Left Out..106 

A STORY OF KIND DEEDS—Odessa’s 

Magic Mirror.119 

A SEA STORY—Nautilus the Mermaid.131 



































LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Beautiful Lady was surrounded as usual 

by the children.Frontispiece 

There, sitting on the ground, was a little man. 25 

The two girls found themselves skimming over 

the mountain. 39 

They saw the little basket filled with the beau¬ 
tiful flowers. 59 

She taught them to pull the ribbon with their 

long bills. 73 

“Let’s call it Lindy.”. 83 

The little girls dressed up in hoop skirts and the 

boys in their grandfather’s old clothes. 97 

All of the little book people came hopping and 

skipping from the shelves.113 

Odessa could hardly believe her good fortune.127 

There in the edge of the water was a lovely mermaid.139 






















TO MY GRANDMOTHER 
MARIA PRISCILLA WHEAT 
WHO OWNED THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 
















THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 














AN IRISH STORY 
The Crystal Locket 

T HE Beautiful Lady sat in her garden 
among her favorite flowers. The chil¬ 
dren loved her dearly, and though she was 
known to her grown-up friends as Miss Vir¬ 
ginia, the children always called her the 
Beautiful Lady. Her hair was as golden as 
the sunshine, and her lovely blue eyes 
seemed always to be smiling. 

On sunny days Miss Virginia would come 
out of the big white house and sit in the 


19 





THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


shade of the trees. She would usually bring 
a basket of nuts for the squirrels, and they 
would perch on her shoulder and eat from 
her hand. 

Now Miss Virginia had something in her 
possession so wonderful that every child 
from far and near had heard about it. 
Around her lovely white throat, on a slender 
gold chain, there hung a tiny crystal locket. 
When the sun shone it glistened like a dew 
drop. 

There was something very unusual about 
this locket. It had been in Miss Virginia’s 
family many, many years. Her great-great¬ 
grandmother had brought it over the seas 
from Ireland, and it is said that a tiny 
Leprechaun had given it to her. 

Now in Ireland everyone believes in the 
fairy folk, and this is the story of the little 
Irish maid of long ago as the Beautiful Lady 
told it: 

The little girl’s name was Nancy O’Neill 
and she was the daughter of the Lord 
Mayor. Although he was a great man in his 
country and Nancy lived in a beautiful home, 


20 



AN IRISH STORY 


she was a sweet little maid and always tried 
to do a good deed for those less fortunate 
than herself. 

Now, far out of town on the edge of the 
wood was a small hut with a thatched roof, 
and there dwelt Granny O’Rooney. Many a 
day she sat by herself, hovering over the 
little peat fire, for her rheumatism was so 
bad she could not move about. 

Granny always managed to keep cheerful, 
and when Nancy came in, all out of breath, 
bringing a basket with her, the old lady’s 
face was wreathed with smiles as she said, 
“Now God bless you, my colleen. It does my 
old heart good to see your sweet face again. 
Sit ye down and talk to an old woman for 
awhile.” 

Nancy took off her hood and settled down 
for a talk. Now Granny was versed in all 
sorts of fairy matters and it was the delight 
of the child’s heart to hear these wonderful 
tales. 

“Granny,” said she, “when you are gone, 
who will tell me of the fairies? I should 
rather hear about them than anything else 
in the world.” 


21 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Ah, bless me, child,” answered Granny, 
“I will have to see to that. Know ye the 
Leprechauns, the wily little men? They will 
trick you if they can.” 

“Tell me, Granny, how they look,” said 
Nancy. 

“Well, they are tiny, wee bits of men with 
long beards. They wear cocked hats and 
coats with big brass buttons and shoes with 
silver buckles so large that they almost 
cover the tops of their shoes. They are 
always seen with leather aprons, for ’tis 
they who make the shoes; and you can dis¬ 
cover them by the tap, tap of their small 
hammers! 

“Now these little men have hidden away 
beautiful jewels, and gold and silver, the 
finest in the world, and if you can keep them 
from fooling you they will surely lead you 
to a pot of gold.” 

Nancy’s eyes had been growing larger 
and larger as the tale went on. 

“Granny, will I ever see one?” she asked. 

“Have patience, my child. Sure and you 
will see one who will lead you to your heart’s 
desire if only you mind what I say.” 


22 




AN IRISH STORY 


“Does it have to do with fairies?” asked 
Nancy. 

“Yes, my child, something that you will 
have long after Granny O’Rooney lies under 
the sod. Now listen carefully, my dear, for 
all depends on yourself. When once you see 
a Leprechaun, grasp him tightly in your 
hand and never take your eyes off of him. 
He will try his best to fool you, but just you 
hold on and say over and over these words: 

‘Tap, tap, little hammer, 

Do not miss a lick. 

Wily little Leprechaun, 

Thou durst not turn a trick.’ 

“You must hold a tiny wand in front of his 
face while you repeat the words, and the 
Leprechaun will be in your power.” 

By this time the sun was sinking low in 
the west and Nancy had to hurry home. 

Quite a time passed, and Nancy always 
kept a sharp lookout for the Leprechaun. 
Always she carried the wand in her pocket, 
but she began to think she would never have 
any use for it. 

One beautiful evening, however, as she 
was walking among the flowers, she heard 


23 





THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


a faint tap, tap, tap, as of a tiny hammer. 
She gently bent back a lily, and there, sit¬ 
ting on the ground among the leaves was a 
little man, working on the heel of a shoe. 

“A Leprechaun!” cried Nancy, almost too 
excited to move. Quickly she reached down 
and grasped him in her hand. 

“Ouch!” said the little man, “don’t squeeze 
me so hard.” 

“Then lead me to the treasure,” said 
Nancy. 

“All right. Just loosen your hold,” he said, 
“and I will lead you to the treasure.” 

However, Nancy remembered Granny’s 
words and still grasped him tightly, and at 
the same time took out the magic wand. 

“Turn to the right,” said the Leprechaun, 
“and we will go through the Magic Forest 
where all of the most wonderful birds fly 
about among gold and silver trees. Just this 
way, please.” 

All of a sudden, as they stepped into the 
woods, Nancy began to realize that the little 
old man had brought her here to distract 
her attention from him by showing her the 
beautiful birds and letting her hear their 


24 



































































AN IRISH STORY 


heavenly music. But she remembered in 
time, and placing the wand before his face 
she repeated the words Granny had told her. 

“Tap, tap, little hammer, 

Do not miss a lick. 

Wily little Leprechaun, 

Thou durst not turn a trick.” 

When the little fellow saw that he was in 
Nancy’s power, he turned quite pale and 
began to scheme again. 

“Keep on through the forest,” said he, 
“and we will next come to the Fairies’ Flower 
Garden where the most beautiful flowers in 
the world grow. There are flowers that no 
one else has ever seen.” 

He thought that she could not resist look¬ 
ing at the flowers and then he could slip 
away. But Nancy was firm, and over and 
over she repeated the rhyme without once 
taking her eyes from the little man’s face, 
though she would have given anything to 
have seen the Fairies’ Garden. 

“Now,” thought the Leprechaun, “I will 
try frightening her.” 

“Keep on,” said he to Nancy. “We will 
soon be there.” 


27 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


All of a sudden she heard a terrible growl¬ 
ing, as if all of the wild beasts were at her 
feet. She was so frightened that she almost 
dropped the little old man, a thing he was 
hoping she would do. But pulling herself to¬ 
gether, she looked harder than ever at him 
and held the wand close to his face. 

“Well,” said the Leprechaun, “I will give 
up. You are the first person I have ever 
failed to trick. You indeed deserve a re¬ 
ward; therefore I will really lead you to the 
treasure. Since your father is a very wealthy 
man, you do not need gold. I will give you a 
far greater treasure. Come with me.” 

Over hills and streams they went as if on 
magic wings until they came to a mountain. 
To one side was a large stone, and Nancy 
was astonished beyond words when the 
Leprechaun waved his tiny hand, muttered 
a magic word, and the stone slowly rolled 
aside. 

“Look in,” said the Leprechaun. 

Nancy looked, and there she saw a most 
beautiful jeweled box encrusted with many 
precious stones. 

“Look inside,” said he. 


28 





AN IRISH STORY 


She turned a little golden key, and the lid 
flew open. There in the center lay a gleam¬ 
ing crystal locket. 

“Now,” said he, “this is my choicest treas¬ 
ure. Whenever you touch the golden spring 
which only you can find, the locket will fly 
open. At your will the fairies will come and 
tell you wonderful stories. Go now, and by 
all that is good and holy, please let me 
loose.” 

Nancy, in her excitement, was still squeez¬ 
ing the poor little old fellow tightly. 

She quickly thanked him, set him gently 
on the soft earth, and made her way home, 
guided by her new found fairy friends. And 
this is how little Nancy O’Neill got posses¬ 
sion of the Crystal Locket. 

When her small friends heard about her 
treasure she soon became a great favorite, 
for she could gaze into the Locket and tell 
the most beautiful stories of things she saw 
there. 

Soon she grew into a beautiful young lady, 
and along came a gallant young man who 
claimed her for his bride. Time went on, 


29 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


and when her little daughter grew old 
enough, she gave the Locket to her. 

There were other little sisters and broth¬ 
ers, but none save the eldest little girl could 
read the magic secrets. So in each succeed¬ 
ing generation only the eldest daughter had 
the power to read the charm. Now Miss Vir¬ 
ginia, the eldest child of her parents, owned 
the treasure, and could gaze therein and 
read. 



30 







A RAINBOW STORY 
Iris op the Rainbow 

/ T , HE Beautiful Lady was surrounded, as 
usual, by the children. They had been 
sitting on the grass in the garden when all of 
a sudden big drops of rain began to fall, and 
they had to scamper to the porch as quickly 
as they could. They had not been there very 
long, however, when out came the sun, even 
while the rain drops continued to fall. 


31 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Look, children; look at the wonderful 
rainbow,” said Miss Virginia. “How clear the 
colors are today. Can you name them?” 

The children looked closely at the rainbow 
and slowly named the colors: violet, indigo, 
blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, but they 
declared they never could remember them 
after the rainbow faded away. 

“Now let me see,” said the Beautiful Lady, 
“if there is not some way we can learn them 
so we will never forget, not even when we are 
very old.” 

With this she touched the golden spring of 
the Crystal Locket and this is the story she 
told: 

Once upon a time there were two little girls 
who had been shut up in the house because 
it had been raining very hard. Along about 
noon, just as they had finished playing all 
of the games they knew, the clouds began to 
break away. Later when it had stopped rain¬ 
ing the sun came out and a lovely rainbow 
appeared in the east just like the one you 
children have just seen. 


32 



A RAINBOW STORY 


The little girls grew very much excited, 
for they had just been reading in their book 
about the pot of gold that is always to be 
found at the foot of the rainbow. 

“Let’s hurry and see if we can find it before 
the rainbow fades,” said Ruth to Mary. 

Away went the little girls down the path, 
their golden curls bobbing up and down. Just 
as they were turning a corner they almost 
ran into an old lady with a sweet, patient 
face, standing hesitatingly on the curb. 

“Wait a minute,” said Ruth, “until I help 
the lady.” 

“Oh, come on,” cried Mary, “the rainbow 
will soon disappear and we will miss the pot 
of gold.” 

Ruth, however, stopped and, taking the old 
lady by the arm, led her safely across the 
street. Running quickly on, she soon caught 
up with her sister, and together they danced 
along on their nimble little feet until they 
came to the edge of the town. 

The houses became fewer, and the people 
were very poor. On the street a little child 
was crying, and again it was Ruth who 


33 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


stopped to see what was the matter. The little 
fellow had wandered away from home, and 
after a great deal of questioning Ruth found 
where he lived and returned him to his 
mother. 

By this time Mary was out of sight, but 
Ruth ran on and on and finally came to the 
edge of a beautiful wood. Mary had become 
so tired that she had stopped under a big tree 
to rest, and it was there that Ruth met her. 

“Come, let’s go on,” said she, and to¬ 
gether they entered the wood. Before they 
had gone very far they came to a tiny house 
in the midst of a little garden in which grew 
hundreds and hundreds of violets. 

“Oh!” said Mary, “did you ever see such 
lovely violets, and so many together? Look 
at the tiny little house. Who do you suppose 
lives there?” 

Just then from the doorway came a little 
fairy wearing a beautiful shimmering dress, 
exactly the color of the violets, and little 
green slippers on her feet. 

“Dear little fairy,” said Ruth, “please tell 
us who you are.” 


34 



A RAINBOW STORY 


The fairy looked up shyly and said, “I am 
one of the Rainbow Fairies, the very first 
color that you always see.” 

“Violet,” said both little girls in the same 
breath. “Indeed, we will never forget that 
lovely color.” 

“Where are you going?” the fairy asked. 

“We are on our way to find the pot of gold 
at the foot of the rainbow,” they said. “Can 
you tell us how to get there?” 

“You will have to go to the next Rainbow 
Fairy who lives on the other side of the 
meadow,” said Violet. 

Just before she bade them farewell, she ran 
into the house and came out with a small 
parcel wrapped in silver paper. 

“Take this to remember Violet, the Rain¬ 
bow Fairy,” she said. 

When they opened the package they found 
a gleaming amethyst just the color of the 
violets. Mary and Ruth thanked the fairy, 
and in breathless haste started across the 
meadow. 

Just as they were half way across they 
were attracted by a bit of moving grass, and 


35 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


going toward it they saw a rabbit with one 
leg caught in a cruel trap. 

“Poor little thing/’ said Ruth. “Let’s help 
him out of the trap.” 

“Oh, come on,” said Mary. “You are al¬ 
ways stopping for something. Let’s hurry 
along to see the next Rainbow Fairy.” 

But Ruth took the little foot from the trap, 
with her handkerchief bound up the wounded 
leg, and let the poor frightened rabbit again 
go free. 

Once more Ruth caught up with her sister, 
and just beyond the clump of trees they came 
to another garden in which grew flowers of 
a most beautiful blue, deep and rich. In the 
midst of the garden was another small house. 

“This must surely be the house of the next 
fairy,” said Mary. 

After a timid knock the girls saw the tiny 
door open, and the dainty lady of the house 
came out. Her golden hair fell over her 
shoulders, and in her hand she held a wand. 
Her dress was of the same rich blue as the 
garden flowers. 

“Please tell us if you are the second Rain- 


36 



A RAINBOW STORY 


bow Fairy/’ they said, as she came nearer. 

“Yes,” replied the fairy, “and my name is 
Indigo.” 

“What a funny name,” they said. “But we 
will not forget this lovely color.” 

“To help you remember,” the fairy prom¬ 
ised, “I shall give you a little present.” 

Quickly she passed her wand over one of 
the loveliest of the flowers and drew forth a 
wonderful blue sapphire. The little girls were 
so pleased that they could hardly thank her 
properly, but after they had admired her gift 
as much as it deserved, they asked her to 
please tell them how they should go about 
finding the pot of gold at the foot of the rain¬ 
bow. 

“You will have to go to the third Rainbow 
Fairy,” she answered. “You will find her 
away over yonder mountain.” 

Ruth and Mary looked sad, for they knew 
they could never get across the mountain. 
Seeing their look, the indigo fairy said, 
“Never mind, my dears, with my wand I will 
make some little wings grow on your shoes, 
and soon you will be across the mountain.” 


37 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


With this she waved her magic wand, and 
immediately the two girls found themselves 
skimming over the mountain as fast as the 
birds themselves. 

For some time they looked before they 
found the third Rainbow Fairy. It was Mary 
who spied the magic spot this time. 

“Look,” said she. “Do you see that won¬ 
derful bank of forget-me-nots?” 

“And there is the little house just on the 
edge of the stream,” replied Ruth. 

Gently they sank to the earth. All around 
bloomed the lovely little blue flowers with 
their yellow centers. 

Presently from a small bench at the rear of 
the house a sleepy fairy came forth. 

“Well,” said she, rubbing her eyes, “I was 
just taking my afternoon nap. What can I do 
for you?” 

“Are you a Rainbow Fairy? Please tell me 
your name,” asked Ruth breathlessly. 

The fairy spread her tiny blue skirts and 
danced a step or two before replying. Then 
she said, “Yes, I am the third Rainbow Fairy, 
and I am just called Blue.” 


38 

















































































A RAINBOW STORY 


“You dear little fairy,” exclaimed the girls. 
“We will never forget you. Can’t you come 
with us on our search for the pot of gold at 
the foot of the rainbow?” 

“No,” replied the fairy, “I can’t leave 
home, for who would be here to guide the 
next little girls who come this way? You will 
have to go to the next Rainbow Fairy who 
lives on the other side of the wood.” 

Both of the girls began to cry, for they 
knew that without help they could never find 
the way. 

“Dear me,” said the fairy, “little girls must 
not cry like this.” 

In the twinkling of an eye, two beautiful 
red foxes were standing saddled and ready 
to take the two children through the forest. 
Before bidding them good-bye the blue fairy 
laughed gleefully, and dancing around and 
around on her tiny toes, she skipped over to 
the spot where Ruth was standing and placed 
in her hand a lovely turquoise of heavenly 
blue. 

What fun they had riding on the backs of 
the swift little foxes! It seemed almost no 


41 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


time until they had reached the other side of 
the forest. All around the soil seemed very 
rocky, and no flowers were blooming there. 
The little girls walked on for quite awhile. 
They were about to decide that the little foxes 
had put them down in the wrong place when, 
all of a sudden, they spied the greenest grass 
they had ever seen growing, in a plot about 
the size of their own front yard. In the mid¬ 
dle of the grass stood a small green house 
with a wee red chimney. Instead of a fairy, 
a droll little pixie appeared. His clothes were 
as green as the grass, but his peaked hat and 
long turned-up shoes were a lovely rich 
brown. 

“Ha,” said he. “What are you two girls 
after so far away from your home?” 

At this the little girls were a bit fright¬ 
ened, for they had expected to see another 
fairy instead of this queer little fellow. 

“Ha, ha!” he cried again. “Would you like 
to see my parrots?” 

With a shrill whistle he called his pets, and 
from all directions flew tiny green parrots, 
chattering as hard as they could. Ruth and 


42 




A RAINBOW STORY 


Mary were much amused, and declared they 
would like to have one for a pet. 

“Would you tell us your name, please?” 
asked Mary. 

“Certainly,” said he. “My name is Gerald 
Granberry Green, but I am called Green for 
short.” 

“So you are the green of the rainbow, 
aren’t you?” asked Ruth. 

“That’s what I am,” said the pixie. 

“Then tell us how to get the pot of gold,” 
they said. 

“Ha, ha!” he laughed again, “so you be¬ 
lieve in the pot of gold?” 

“Indeed we do,” replied the little girls. 

“Well, you may go through my garden, and 
my parrots will guide you to the next one 
who will tell you about the pot of gold,” said 
he. 

“Oh,” exclaimed Ruth, “there is a tiny 
baby parrot with a broken wing. I will find 
the nest and give it back to its mother.” 

While Ruth was searching for the mother 
parrot the little pixie called his favorite bird, 
and speaking in a weird language, bade him 


43 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


go to Mary. The bird flew on her shoulder, 
and into her lap dropped a sparkling emerald, 
as green as the grass that grew all around 
them. 

By this time Ruth was ready to start, and 
guided by the beautiful green and yellow 
bird, they soon found themselves in a garden 
of daffodils. There they saw a fairy ring, and 
round and round danced a band of fairies all 
dressed in the color of the yellow daffodils. 
In the middle of the ring sat the queen. On 
her head was a wee crown made of beautiful 
yellow gems. When she saw the girls she 
bade the children cease their dancing, and 
came forth to speak to them. 

“Surely,” said Mary, “you must be the Yel¬ 
low Rainbow Fairy.” 

“You are right,” said the little queen. 

“Now, will you please tell us how to reach 
the pot of gold?” they asked. 

“Take this little gift,” said the fairy, “and 
you will be guided at once to the next fairy, 
who will send you on your way.” 

She then handed Ruth a beautiful gem that 
she called a topaz. 


44 



A RAINBOW STORY 


‘‘Now/’ said she, “this is a magic stone. If 
you wish to be with the next fairy, you will 
yourselves be there at once.” 

Mary and Ruth thanked the yellow fairy, 
and just as soon as they made their wish, 
they found themselves in Marigold Garden, 
which was presided over by a queer little 
gnome. 

“How do you like my flowers?” he asked, 
as he stroked his long white beard. 

“They are lovely,” replied Ruth. “Do you 
care for all of these yourself?” 

“Yes, with the help of my little animal 
friends,” he answered. 

Mary and Ruth realized that he was the 
Orange of the rainbow. 

“And what is your name?” they asked. 

“Oscar Oliver Orangecowitz, but they al¬ 
ways call me Orange,” he replied. 

The girls were delighted that they had met 
the next to the last Rainbow Fairies, and 
asked their usual question as to how they 
could find the pot of gold at the foot of the 
rainbow. 

“Ah,” said he, “you are almost there. Go 


45 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


to one more fairy, and she will lead you the 
rest of the way.” 

The little girls were much excited to hear 
that their journey was nearly ended. 

“Take this,” said the little gnome, “to re¬ 
member me by.” 

This time their gift was a beautiful piece 
of yellow jasper almost the color of the mari¬ 
golds. 

“Thank you,” both the little girls said at 
once, and using their magic topaz, they soon 
found themselves in a lovely field of poppies. 
This time they did not see any signs of life, 
so they called and called. After quite awhile 
there was a gentle rustling, and several little 
sleepy fairy heads peeped out from among 
the poppies. 

“What makes them so sleepy?” asked 
Mary. 

“Why, the poppies, of course,” said Ruth. 

Finally one little fairy all in red crept out 
and began to talk to the children. When they 
told her that they were looking for the pot of 
gold, she said, “You have been to see each of 
my six sisters and brothers, and each has 


46 




A RAINBOW STORY 


given you a precious gem. I am the last of 
the Rainbow Fairies, and I am Ruby Red. 
Here is my offering, the most precious of all, 
a genuine pigeon-blood ruby. I shall now 
lead you to the foot of the rainbow, which is 
very near.” 

The little red fairy skipped ahead, now 
thoroughly awake, and in a few minutes 
Mary and Ruth beheld a sight such as they 
had never dreamed of. They were really at 
the foot of a beautiful rainbow, and standing 
there was Iris, the Rainbow Goddess, hold¬ 
ing the pot of gold. She seemed to be expect¬ 
ing her little guests, for she called them both 
by name. 

“You little girls have come a far journey,” 
she said, “and now I will give into your hands 
a pot of gold. You may carry it home and 
divide it. But what are those gleaming jewels 
you have? To which little girl do they be¬ 
long?” she asked suddenly as she saw that 
each child carried several gems. 

Just then appeared a sweet-faced old lady 
who walked with a crutch. She pointed to 
Ruth and said, “It was she who stopped and 


47 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


helped an old lady across a busy street. Give 
her the lovely amethyst.” 

A little child next appeared, now smiling, 
and said, “Give that little girl the sapphire 
for me, for it was she who took me to my 
mother when I was lost.” He also pointed to 
Ruth. 

A rabbit with a wee bit of handkerchief 
bound around his leg next came to beg that 
Ruth have the turquoise. Then there was the 
parrot with the injured wing, and so on until 
each jewel was given to Ruth. 

The Goddess Iris took them all in her hand, 
and with a few swift strokes fastened them 
on a golden chain, and clasped it around 
Ruth’s neck. 

“My dear child,” said she, “here is some¬ 
thing that will always help you to remember 
the colors of the rainbow, for on this neck¬ 
lace are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, 
orange, and red. But far above the value of 
these precious stones, my dear, are the kindly 
deeds you have done along the way.” 

The children stood there amazed with the 
pot of gold and the jewels. Then suddenly 


48 




A RAINBOW STORY 


they realized they must be getting home. 
As they started off Iris stooped down and 
kissed them, and when they looked up the 
rainbow had faded. 



49 





AN ALPINE STORY 
The Goat Whose Ears Went Wrong 


/ "pHE children sat around a bright wood 
1 fire in the big house, popping corn and 
roasting chestnuts. The Beautiful Lady had 
just returned from a long journey, and the 
children gathered to welcome her home. 
After the long absence they seemed to love 
her more than ever. 

“How about a story?” said she. 


50 



AN.ALPINE STORY 


The children looked at once for the Crystal 
Locket, but alas! it was not in its usual place 
on the Beautiful Lady’s throat. 

“How can you tell a story,” they asked, 
“without the Crystal Locket?” 

“Truly, I cannot,” she replied, “but I will 
get the Locket. I cannot wear it around my 
neck today because the gold chain is broken, 
but I will hold it in my hand and we will see 
what we can find. What kind of story would 
you like?” 

“How about an animal story?” said one of 
the little boys. 

“Yes, please do,” the other children all 
chimed in. 

For quite a long time Miss Virginia gazed 
into the little Crystal Locket before she 
began her story. Then she spoke, 

“Far over the seas, I see some high and 
beautiful mountains, so high indeed, that 
their tops seem to touch the sky. They have 
been covered with ice and snow all winter, 
but now the spring has come and the grass 
and flowers are growing on the mountain 
sides. One can hear the tinkle, tinkle of the 
little bells on the necks of the goats that have 


51 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


been brought to pasture. Little Swiss boys 
and girls may be seen picking flowers and 
ferns as they tend the goats.” 

Miss Virginia paused and looked long into 
the Locket before she continued: 

Two children are climbing the mountain, a 
boy and a girl. The little boy’s name is Peter, 
while his sister is called Katrina. These 
children do not live in Switzerland, but have 
come with their father and mother from 
Holland. The father has been ill, and has 
come to the sweet pure air of the high Alps 
mountains to recover his health. Back in 
their own city of Amsterdam he had been a 
lapidary, or one who cuts diamonds and other 
precious stones. The tiny flying bits of stone, 
almost like dust, had affected his lungs, and 
the doctor had said he would die unless he 
went at once to the mountains of Switzer¬ 
land. 

The family had very little money, for the 
father had long been unable to work. They 
could not stay at the fine hotels where the 
rich people went, but they had a little home 
on the mountain side. Each day as the chil- 


52 



AN ALPINE STORY 


dren played about, they wished for some way 
to earn money to help with the living ex¬ 
penses. The little Swiss boys and girls seemed 
to know many things to do, but they were at 
home and knew just where to go and what 
to do to earn some money. The Dutch chil¬ 
dren were strangers and were timid about 
asking for errands. 

One day as they were passing one of the 
inns they saw some gay young people sitting 
on the porch. As they looked up a young 
woman beckoned to them. Peter and Katrina 
hastened to see what she wanted. She asked 
the children if they knew where the edelweiss 
grew. 

The Dutch children knew about this rare 
plant which was so much desired by visitors, 
but they had not yet found it growing. It is 
a pure, silver-white, star-shaped flower and 
is the national flower of Switzerland, just as 
the goldenrod is the national flower of Amer¬ 
ica and the fleur-de-lis of France. Edelweiss 
is a German name and means noble flower, 
and is the emblem of purity. It is found in 
exposed places, high on the rocky cliffs, and 
its fame is due chiefly to the difficulty in se- 


53 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


curing it. In one’s hand it seems to be a piece 
of white velvet or wool. 

The young woman at the inn told them she 
would pay them well for all the edelweiss 
they could find, because she wanted to press 
it and mount it on little cards to send to her 
friends. 

Peter and Katrina were delighted at the 
prospect of making some money. They ran 
all the way home to tell their father and 
mother. The mother smiled at the children, 
and thought to herself they would never find 
so rare a plant. 

Bright and early the next morning the 
children were up and ready to start. 

“Mother, may we take some lunch?” asked 
Katrina. “Then we can have all day to hunt.” 

Their mother prepared a little basket of 
bread and cheese and kissing them good-bye, 
she bade them be careful. Then off they 
started. 

On and on they went up the mountain side 
looking among the rocks at every turn. 
Other beautiful flowers such as Alpine roses, 
forget-me-nots and pansies seemed to grow 
in abundance, but not a trace of the treas- 


54 




AN ALPINE STORY 


ured edelweiss could be seen. After several 
hours of climbing, the children began to 
grow weary and decided to sit down on a big 
stone and eat their lunch. 

“Peter,” said Katrina, “I do not believe we 
shall ever find the treasure.” 

“Perhaps not,” said Peter doubtfully. 

About this time a sad little bleating was 
heard, and looking just above them the chil¬ 
dren saw a small goat. 

“How pitiful the little goat sounds. Let’s 
go and see what is the matter,” said Katrina. 

The children looked at each other in won¬ 
der as they drew near, for they could under¬ 
stand what the little goat was saying. When 
Peter and Katrina drew quite near, this is 
what they heard: 

“I am always singing a sad, sad song, 

Because my billy goat ears went wrong.” 

“What do you suppose he means?” said 
Peter. 

“Why, look at his ears,” replied Katrina. 

They really did go wrong, for instead of 
pointed ears that lay back on his head, this 
poor little goat had long floppy ears like a 


55 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


dog, and short woolly hair. The children came 
to the sad little goat and began to pet him. 

“Poor little goat,” said Katrina, “tell me 
why you are so sad.” 

Then the little goat told the story of how 
the other goats had made fun of his ears, 
how they had butted him with their horns and 
scorned him until he had to leave them. 

“Poor little fellow,” said Peter, “you come 
with us, for we do not mind your ears.” 

At this kind remark the little goat ceased 
his bleating and joyfully followed the chil¬ 
dren. 

“Maybe the little goat can help us find the 
edelweiss,” said Katrina. 

At the mention of edelweiss, the goat 
flopped his queer ears and started out on a 
trot, looking back for the children to follow 
him. 

On and on they went until they came to a 
mountain that seemed to go straight up into 
the clouds. Since the children knew they 
could never climb so steep a rock, they began 
to look very disappointed. 

Just then the goat gently took the empty 
basket from Katrina’s hand, and grasping it 


56 



AN ALPINE STORY 


firmly between his teeth motioned for the 
children to wait. In an instant he was climb¬ 
ing the steep rock. Peter and Katrina looked 
at each other in amazement, but decided to 
sit down and wait for the goat to return. 

From the place they were sitting they could 
see a silvery waterfall which fell over the 
rocks like a lace veil. The soothing noise to¬ 
gether with their weariness from the steep 
climb caused the children to be very drowsy 
and after a time they stretched out and went 
fast asleep. They never knew just how long 
they slept, but they were awakened by the 
bleating of the goat. 

“I am always singing a sad, sad song, 

Because my billy goat ears went wrong.” 

They looked up and to their great delight 
they saw the little basket filled with the beau¬ 
tiful flowers. They gratefully petted the sad 
little goat and then all three started happily 
down the mountain side as fast as they could 
go. 

They had to pass their home on their way 
to the inn, and they ran into the house to 
show the wonderful flowers to their mother. 


57 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


When she came out and saw the goat, she 
could not help laughing at the queer little 
creature with the floppy ears. But at the 
sound of the laughter he began his mourn¬ 
ful little bleat. The children then told their 
mother how the goat had brought them the 
edelweiss and how sad he was over his floppy 
ears. The mother ceased laughing and pat¬ 
ted the little beast on the head. 

When they brought their white treasure 
to the young woman at the inn she was de¬ 
lighted, and said that their edelweiss was the 
loveliest she had ever seen. She paid them 
well and told them she would buy all they 
could bring her. 

The goat had a good supper and a nice 
place to sleep that night for the first time in 
many weeks. In the morning the three start¬ 
ed out again, and again the goat brought 
back the basket filled with flowers. For sev¬ 
eral weeks the children sold them to the 
young woman at the inn, and they were very 
sorry when she told them she was leaving 
very soon, in fact the next day. 

The children had grown to love the sad 
little goat, and he was happier than he had 


58 



















AN ALPINE STORY 


ever been in his short life. Sometimes a band 
of gay picnickers would pass and laugh at 
the appearance of the queer little animal and 
he would bleat his usual song: 


“I am always singing a sad, sad song, 
Because my billy goat ears went wrong.” 


On the last evening the little goat stayed 
away so long that the children grew uneasy. 
They waited and waited, and finally took off 
their shoes and stockings and started to 
climb the high rock in search of him. This 
was a very dangerous climb for them, but 
they had not gone far when they heard a 
soft little bleat, and looking up, saw the goat 
trying to pull his leg from under a loose stone 
that had fallen upon it. 

“Poor little Billy,” said the children in one 
breath. “Let’s hurry to help him.” 

When they finally reached the goat’s side 
Peter lifted the stone, and when he picked it 
up he found some very beautiful quartz crys¬ 
tals. 

“Just see what he has found for us,” ex- 


61 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


claimed Katrina. “Let’s hurry home and 
show them to father. He will know if they 
are valuable.” 

That evening the children rushed into the 
house in great excitement. 

“Look, father,” they cried, “see what the 
goat has found for us!” 

The father took the bright stones in his 
hand and a wonderful smile overspread his 
face. 

“My children,” he said, “you have found a 
real treasure. These stones are genuine crys¬ 
tals, and when I cut and polish them they will 
glisten like diamonds. In the Swiss moun¬ 
tains the finest crystals are found. Your little 
goat friend has discovered something that 
will keep us from poverty for many a day.” 

That night a very happy family gathered 
for supper, and in their midst was the goat 
who had quite forgotten to be sad. 

The father had quite recovered his health 
by the time the winter snow began to fall and 
plans were being made for the family’s re¬ 
turn to Holland. 

“What will we do with Billy?” asked the 


62 



AN ALPINE STORY 


children. “We can never leave him to be sad 
again.” 

They were discussing the question for the 
hundredth time one afternoon as they sat 
with the goat at their side when all of a sud¬ 
den a little pixie appeared and began asking 
them questions. 

“What is your trouble?” he asked. 

“We have a very dear little goat who has 
been our best friend,” they answered. “We 
are going away to our home in Holland and 
the poor little fellow cannot find a home be¬ 
cause he has queer ears and everyone laughs 
at him.” 

Just then the goat bleated sadly: 


“I am always singing a sad, sad song, 

Because my billy goat ears went wrong.” 

The pixie then looked at the sad little goat 
and said, “Children, do not worry any longer 
over your friend. From now on he will be like 
other goats, and his hair will be long and 
silky, so that the other goats will envy him. 
Look the other way just a minute.” 

When the children looked around again 


63 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


they could hardly believe their eyes. Such a 
handsome goat they had never seen. Instead 
of the queer ears there were new ones that 
set back neatly on his head. Around his neck 
was a silver bell, and instead of the sad 
bleating, the goat was singing a new tune. 
And this is the way it went: 

“I am always singing a glad refrain. 

Because my ears are right again.” 

With a farewell hug, Peter and Katrina 
left Billy and the pixie and went slowly down 
the mountain to their home. 



64 



A TRAVEL STORY 
Treasures from a Lacquer Box 

T HE bright spring morning was sweet and 
cool. Lilacs were blooming in the gar¬ 
den, while purple and white iris bordered the 
flagstone walks. Old-fashioned pinks gave 
forth their spicy fragrance, and the apple 
trees showered their pink and white petals 
over the grass like a miniature snowstorm. 

One would expect to find the Beautiful 
Lady in her accustomed place in the garden, 
but this morning she sat inside with her 


65 





THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


lacquer box in her lap, completely lost in 
thought. On her journey across the seas she 
had collected from many countries rare bits 
of handicraft, and now she wondered as she 
took each delicate piece out of the lacquer 
box just what story or legend it told. 

She was holding a tiny ivory elephant when 
she heard a knock at the door. At her invita¬ 
tion the merry band of boys and girls trooped 
in and gathered around her, begging as 
usual for a story. 

“Oh, how lovely,” exclaimed the children 
as they looked at the beautiful pieces. “Do 
tell us about them.” 

The Beautiful Lady let each child hold a 
treasure, and then she placed them on a small 
table before her. 

“Do you think the Crystal Locket could tell 
their story?” the children asked her. 

“Which piece would you like to hear about 
first?” she questioned as she brought out the 
Locket. 

A skillfully modeled little ivory building 
stood on the end of the tabie, and this the 
children decided to hear about first. 


66 




A TRAVEL STORY 


“All right,” said the Beautiful Lady, “I will 
tell you about that first.” 

Long, long ago in India, a princess had a 
wonderful dream. She saw a building of 
wondrous beauty made of white marble deli¬ 
cately carved in lace-like patterns. On the 
walls were flower patterns made of precious 
stones. She told her husband about the 
dream, and he commanded the finest build¬ 
ers in the kingdom to work out the plan as 
she had seen it in her dream. But they tried 
in vain. They could not reproduce the palace 
of her dreams. 

Just as he was about to despair, a holy man 
came to the prince and offered his assistance. 
The holy man gave to a builder a magic 
drink, and immediately before the builder’s 
wondering eyes, the plan of the beautiful 
building was revealed in all of its glory. 

Feverishly he worked at drawing the build¬ 
ing until he was exhausted for fear that the 
plan would not be completed and perfect be¬ 
fore the effect of the magic drug wore off. 
Many men worked for years before the 


67 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


building itself was completed. The prince 
made it a memorial to his beloved wife. This 
is the famous Taj Mahal of India. 

The tiny ivory model which you children 
see was made by a skilled craftsman and sold 
to visitors who visited that country. 

The next piece was a beautiful fan with 
carved ivory sticks inlaid with silver leaves. 
The top was of rice paper on which were 
mounted numbers of little figures of Chinese 
ladies with silken dresses and little painted 
ivory faces. The ivory sticks were caught 
together on a small bar which was tipped 
with a sparkling red gem. 

“Let’s see,” said the Beautiful Lady, as 
she looked again into the Locket. “In the 
middle of the fan is a Manchu lady with a 
rich crimson dress of brocaded silk embroi¬ 
dered in butterflies. Her smooth black hair is 
worn very high on her head and fastened 
with rare jeweled pins. In the distance is a 
Chinese temple, and surrounding the lady 
are maids-in-waiting. It was for this same 
little lady that the fan was made many years 
ago with the picture of herself.” 


68 



A TRAVEL STORY 


With the fall of the Manchus their great 
wealth slipped away, and the fan that had 
come down to her great-great grandchild 
had to be sold in a collector’s store. The 
bright eyes of the little Chinese were filled 
with tears as she parted with her treasure. 

“What about that little polar bear?” asked 
one of the little boys. 

“That is from faraway Greenland,” said 
the Beautiful Lady. “This little bear is made 
of ivory too, not from the elephant’s tusks, 
but from the tusk of the walrus. This much 
I know, but we will see if the Locket will re¬ 
veal the story at greater length.” 

I see an Eskimo father and his two sons. 
They have just returned from a great hunt¬ 
ing expedition. Such wonderful luck they 
seldom had, for they had killed a great white 
polar bear and an immense walrus with huge 
ivory tusks. 

That evening they gathered around the 
big lamp in the igloo which was their home, 
and began wondering what they could do to 
celebrate the hunt. Suddenly the idea came 


69 





THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


to one of the sons that the father should 
carve the figure of the polar bear from the 
ivory tusk of the walrus. 

Evening after evening the father carved 
on the little bear. When it was finished, a 
trader came to those cold and icy shores and 
was much attracted by the carving. He made 
such a good offer for it that the father gave 
it up; not without a pang of regret however, 
for as the little bear was fashioned bit by bit 
into the perfect whole, the family had become 
much attached to it. 

The next bit of carving was not of ivory, 
as were the other pieces, but of beautiful 
wood. A snow white swan carved from holly 
was mounted on a plaque of rich walnut, and 
closely resembled a cameo. 

The graceful swan with its long, slender 
neck was so finely carved that each tiny 
feather was perfectly marked. In its head 
was set a very small pink eye. Around the 
water on which the swan seemed to swim 
were rushes and very small water lilies. The 
Beautiful Lady then told the children this 
story about the bird: 


70 



A TRAVEL STORY 


Many years ago at an interesting old pal¬ 
ace in England there lived some real swans, 
and each day they were seen swimming in 
the ancient moat around the palace. There 
was a drawbridge in the long ago and when 
it was raised all entrance to the palace was 
cut off and everyone inside was made safe 
from an attacking enemy. 

A little girl spent many hours each day 
watching the swans swim about and they 
grew very tame. On the tower above the 
drawbridge was hung a little bell to which 
was fastened a ribbon. When the swans were 
hungry she taught them to pull the ribbon 
with their long, flat bills and the bell would 
ring. She would then bring them food to eat. 

Many years have passed since then, but 
the swans taught their young ones how to 
ring the bell when hungry, and so ever since 
the swans of the palace have interested the 
visitors who watch them pull the ribbon and 
ring the bell for their food. 

A frail young man sits on a bench with his 
crutch by his side and carves the lovely white 
swans from the holly to sell to the visitors. 


71 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Just one more story and we must close,” 
said the Beautiful Lady, taking- in her hand 
what seemed to be a very small silver book. 

“Whoever saw such a tiny book!” the chil¬ 
dren exclaimed. 

They really thought it was a book, but the 
Beautiful Lady had a surprise for them, for 
when it was opened, it proved to be a box, 
and did not have pages like other books. 
From the box she pulled out a string of tiny 
beads made from mother-of-pearl, on the end 
of which hung a very small silver cross. 

“Do tell us where you got it,” begged the 
children. 

“This little box came from far over the seas 
from a city about which you children have 
heard, especially at Christmas time. Can you 
guess where?” 

“Could it be Bethlehem?” asked one little 
girl. 

“Yes, my dear, that is right. How many of 
you children know a Christmas song about 
Bethlehem?” 

At that the voices of the children were 
raised in the beautiful Christmas carol: 


72 






SHE TAUGHT THEM TO PULL THE RIBBON WITH THEIR LONG BILLS 








A TRAVEL STORY 


“0 little town of Bethlehem, 

How still we see thee lie! 

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep 
The silent stars go by. 

Yet in thy dark streets shineth 
The everlasting light; 

The hopes and fears of all the years 
Are met in thee tonight.” 

“This is a rosary,” said the Beautiful Lady, 
“which was sold in one of the many shops in 
Bethlehem where much exquisite pearl work 
is made.” 

“There were finely carved pieces of all 
kinds, among them sandals inlaid in rare de¬ 
signs of pearl, brooches, cuff links, and very 
small pearl spoons. The women of Bethlehem 
are very beautiful and their robes and pecu¬ 
liar head dress are very attractive.” 

She then passed the little pearl rosary 
around so that each child might see it before 
she put it back into the silver box. 

Since the Beautiful Lady had said that this 
was the last story the children began getting 
ready to leave. But they were surprised to 
hear her tell them to wait. 


75 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Children,” said she, “now comes the best 
part of the story.” 

Once upon a time there was a woman who 
had five very dear little friends. When she 
went on a long journey she often thought 
about them and wished they were with her 
to help enjoy the wonderful sights. 

Since they could not be with her on these 
journeys, she remembered them along the 
way by bringing them some little gifts. 

“These little friends were you, my dears. 
And now hold out your hands and see what 
else comes out of the lacquer box.” 

Amid loud bursts of joy the little gifts were 
distributed. To one child was given the tini¬ 
est black cat, carved from ebony. This, the 
Beautiful Lady said, was from Paris. 

The children all gathered to see the wee 
cat with its specks of green eyes. Another 
received a perfect little ivory elephant, said 
to have been blest by a holy man. This was 
from India. To another their friend gave a 
little stork, which was also of ivory, and ever 
so frail and graceful as it stood on its long, 


76 



A TRAVEL STORY 


slender legs. The child was very pleased. 

An Eskimo dog with pointed ears and a 
bushy tail, resembling an ivory rose, went to 
the next little child, and the littlest one re¬ 
ceived the tiniest white mouse imaginable, 
seated on his hind legs, with his forepaws in 
the air, looking straight ahead out of his wee 
pink eyes. 

With many expressions of thanks to the 
Beautiful Lady, the children took their pres¬ 
ents and departed. 



77 




A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 
The Carrier Pigeon 

A FLOCK of pigeons sailed across the sky 
and faded away in the distance. The eyes 
of the little group of children watched the 
flying birds as long as they could be seen. 

“How would you like to hear a story about 
a wonderful pigeon that brought riches and 
fame to its owners?” asked Miss Virginia. 

“Please do tell us,” said all the children to¬ 
gether. 


78 








A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


“As soon as I go in and get the Locket,” 
she said. 

In a short time they were all seated on the 
grass, and so interested that they hardly 
moved while they heard this story which Miss 
Virginia told them: 

Long ago in a country across the seas lived 
a family of four. There were the father, who 
was a famous surgeon, the mother, and two 
sons. One of the sons was named Herman, 
while the other was called Nicholas. 

For many years the family had lived in 
great prosperity. The children had never 
known what it was to be in want of anything. 
Instead of going to school like other children, 
they had a tutor, who taught them among 
other things to fence. In this the boys came 
to be quite expert. They had bright little 
boots with golden spurs, and coats and hats 
that were the envy of their little comrades. 

Sad to say, this happy state of affairs did 
not continue. One day the news came that 
the father’s large investments had failed, 
and to add to this, the doctor was taken very 


79 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


ill and for many weeks was unable to prac¬ 
tice his profession. At last, one sad day, the 
mother, with tears in her eyes, told the boys 
that they would be obliged to move to a house 
in a poorer neighborhood. 

Of course the boys were sad to leave the 
lovely home they had always known, but they 
were fine manly little fellows, so they tried 
to cheer their mother as best they could. 

The day came when they moved to the new 
home and Nicholas and Herman immediate¬ 
ly began to explore the house and yard. At 
the back of the house they saw a small en¬ 
closure in which pigeons had been kept. As 
they drew near they heard a faint cooing 
noise, and on going inside the pen they dis¬ 
covered a baby pigeon without a single 
feather on its poor little body. 

“My,” said Herman, “someone has left this 
poor baby bird to starve.” 

“Do you think we can save it?” asked Nich¬ 
olas. 

The children went into the house and asked 
their mother to tell them what to feed the 
baby pigeon. 

“I am afraid,” she said, “that it will be 


80 





A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


hard for you to feed this little fellow, for the 
mother pigeon always puts the food from her 
own mouth into that of the baby bird.” 

“We will try, at any rate,” said Herman. 

They took some very fine oatmeal, mixed 
it with water, and while one held the little 
bill open the other poked down the food until 
its crop was quite round. 

Next day they expected to see the little 
orphan pigeon dead, but to their surprise 
they were greeted with even louder cooing. 
They again fed the pigeon and gave it water. 
Each day this continued and very soon stub¬ 
by little feathers began to pop out all over 
the little body. 

“What was the pigeon’s name?” asked the 
listening children. 

“I do not know what it was called in the 
language the children spoke,” said the Beau¬ 
tiful Lady. “Suppose we suggest a name.” 

“Let me name it,” begged one of the chil¬ 
dren. “Let’s call it Lindy, for he too sailed 
through the clouds.” 

“That is a very good name,” they agreed. 

Now as time went on Lindy grew into a 
very nice-looking bird. Each day when the 


81 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


children came near, it would coo with delight, 
for it always expected food. One day it be¬ 
gan to try its wings a little distance. The 
flying was awkward at first, but each day its 
wings grew stronger and stronger. The boys 
would take it out of the pen and let it fly 
about the yard. 

One day the boys were showing their pet 
to a friend who had come to see their father. 

“Boys,” said he, “do you know that you 
have a carrier pigeon?” 

“What does that mean?” asked Nicholas. 

“The name carrier is given because this 
kind of pigeon carries messages, sometimes 
around its neck, but more often on a piece 
of paper placed in a quill and fastened by a 
band to its leg. Messages of great impor¬ 
tance are carried in this way.” 

“Would it not be exciting to get a message 
in this way?” exclaimed Herman. 

“Yes, indeed,” replied his brother. “Let’s 
try to train our pigeon to carry messages.” 

At first the boys would take the pigeon a 
short distance and let it go. Almost before 
they could return, the bird would be in its 
own yard. 


82 




“LET’S CALL IT LINDY” 






A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


The distance was gradually increased, and 
always the pigeon would return. One day 
when the boys were playing in the yard the 
bird hopped on Herman’s shoulder and up 
near his ear, as if whispering a message. 
There was a gentle flapping of wings, when, 
soaring into the air, the pigeon was soon out 
of sight. 

Night came on and it did not return. The 
weeks passed and the boys gave up all hope 
of ever seeing their pet again. 

They were quite sad about the loss of 
Lindy, but things were brighter in the home. 
The father’s health was improving and this 
made them all very happy. One day while he 
was reading the newspaper his attention was 
called to great headlines. The jewels belong¬ 
ing to the empress and emperor had been 
stolen and a large reward was offered for 
their recovery. 

The children were much excited and fell to 
discussing the robbery. Each day after that 
they would hurry to get the paper to see if 
there was any news of the lost treasure. The 
reward was increased, and it was said that 


85 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


the big bell in the tower of the palace would 
ring when the jewels were returned. 

Days passed and the jewels were not found. 
Then interest began to wane, for hope of 
finding them was about lost. 

One day the children were playing as usual 
in the yard when they sighted a tiny speck in 
the sky. Nearer it came until, when quite 
close, they found it was their carrier pigeon. 
Right into the old pen it flew and settled 
down as if to rest awhile. 

Nicholas quickly picked it up to pet it, 
while Herman went to get water for the 
weary little traveller. As Nicholas took the 
pigeon in his hand he felt something strange, 
and, looking down, he saw a quill fastened 
securely to the leg of the pigeon. 

“Come quickly,” said he, “our bird has a 
message.” 

The boys lost no time in loosening the band 
and removing the quill. They took it to their 
father, who very carefully unsealed it and 
took from it a very small piece of paper. This 
he studied very carefully for some time. At 
first he could make nothing of the queer 


86 



A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


words written on the paper; then finally a 
great light dawned. 

“This,” said he, “is a code message, which 
seems to be of great importance. If I could 
find the key we might make a discovery.” 

For several days he worked, and on into 
the night, trying every key he had ever heard 
of to solve the code messages. On the fifth 
day the children heard a cry of victory. 

“Come,” said he, “I have found the way to 
read the message.” 

On the slip was written a message that 
seemed to be from one person to another 
about how to find a hidden treasure. The 
words, even though deciphered, were hard to 
understand, and it took many more days for 
the father to find the meaning of the mes¬ 
sage. Then the father was afraid to tell any¬ 
one what he had learned. But when he was 
ready to start on the journey according to 
the directions given he could not bear to re¬ 
fuse to let the boys go along. 

It was night when they started, and they 
had only a lantern to light them on their way. 
Over rough fields they tramped until they 
came to the dark woodland. 


87 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


The boys tried to appear very brave, but 
at the sight of the dark and gloomy forest 
ahead their hearts beat a little faster and 
their knees trembled ever so little. 

A path was found, and on they went. Every 
now and then they would stop, and by the 
light of the lantern consult the paper that 
contained the directions. Far into the night 
they journeyed. The boys were beginning to 
get very tired indeed when, all of a sudden, 
they came to a stone wall which stood across 
the path. 

“What can that be?” asked Nicholas. 

“Let’s explore,” suggested the father. 

After going around the side the boys made 
out the outline of an old deserted castle 
which had long ago fallen into decay. 

“Boys,” said he, “I believe we have almost 
reached the end of our journey.” 

The boys were wild with excitement, and 
asked their father what he would do next. 

“There should be some steps somewhere 
which lead to an underground passage,” he 
said. 

The lantern was held close to the ground, 


88 




A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


when, with a shout of delight, Nicholas spied 
the steps which were almost hidden with 
moss and earth. On close inspection, how¬ 
ever, it was found that they had been recent¬ 
ly used. 

Down the dark passage the three went. A 
rabbit jumped past, and Herman almost lost 
his footing, so frightened was he. At last 
the foot of the steps was reached, and walk¬ 
ing a short distance through the under¬ 
ground passage, they came to a small room. 
At first sight it seemed to be absolutely 
empty, and the little band of treasure seekers 
was about to turn away, when Nicholas dis¬ 
covered an iron ring in the side of the wall. 

“What do you suppose that could be?” he 
asked his father. 

They all drew near, and when the ring was 
pulled forward a drawer slid out. The father 
pulled it out all the way from its hiding place. 
When they gathered around they saw a sight 
that almost left them speechless. There be¬ 
fore them lay the wonderful jewels that be¬ 
longed to the Emperor! 

The joy of the little party was so great that 
they hardly knew what to do next. It was 


89 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


decided that each should carry a third of the 
marvelous treasure. As the large diamonds 
were placed in charge of Herman he could 
not utter a word. Then came the rubies, the 
emeralds, and the great blue sapphires until 
the drawer was quite empty. 

They had to hurry very fast to get home 
before the dawn, for it would be dangerous 
to be seen with so priceless a treasure. When 
the weary travellers returned home and 
showed the mother the result of their hunt 
she could hardly believe her eyes. 

After resting awhile the father took the 
two boys and started to the palace. The 
mother remained at home and heard the 
great bell peal forth its deep, rich tones and 
knew that the emperor had his jewels safe 
again. 

The story was told of the little carrier 
pigeon, which had stopped to see its good 
friends while on its way from one robber to 
another and how it had been the cause of 
the recovery of the jewels. 

“To you,” said the emperor to the father, 
“I will give the position of chief surgeon in 
the royal household. The reward shall be 


90 




A STORY OF THE LOST JEWELS 


divided between the boys, for had they not 
been kind in saving the life of the forsaken 
pigeon my treasures would not have been 
found. 

“And now, to honor the little pigeon, I will 
have its exact likeness made in pure gold and 
placed at the entrance of the palace, so that 
no one will ever forget its great service to the 
emperor.” 



91 






A SOUTHERN STORY 
Southern Gold 

T HE children were in the orchard gather¬ 
ing the luscious peaches that hung like 
red and yellow globes among the green 
leaves of the trees. They looked up, and com¬ 
ing toward them along the path was Miss 
Virginia. She looked very lovely in her fresh 
white dress and large garden hat, which was 
fastened under her chin with a bow of pink 
ribbon. 


92 




A SOUTHERN STORY 


“I saw you children gathering peaches,” 
said she, “and thought you might like to see 
one of my little treasures.” 

With this she held out her hand. In it lay 
a tiny little basket with a curved handle 
which she said was carved from a peach 
stone. 

“How could that possibly be?” asked the 
children. “It is very dark brown, and these 
peach stones are a light yellow.” 

“The dark color,” she said, “is from age, 
for this little basket is even older than your 
grandmothers. A soldier, long ago, carved 
this little basket while he was in prison and 
gave it to my grandmother when she was 
young.” 

This made the children think of the stories 
about the war, and with one accord they 
begged Miss Virginia to tell them a story of 
the Old South when their grandparents were 
young and gay. With the aid of her Crystal 
Locket the story started thus: 

A long time ago in a little southern village 
there lived some very happy little boys and 


93 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


girls. Their house was built in the midst of 
a large oak grove—a beautiful home with 
large white columns and porches above and 
below. On each side of the porch grew roses, 
wistaria and sweet jasmine vines. The name 
of the house was Rose Villa. In the evening 
the older boys and girls would sit on the steps 
and play the guitar and sing, for in those 
days there were no theaters to which they 
might go, nor automobiles in which to ride. 

At the back of the house singing could be 
heard, for the negro quarters were there; 
and on warm evenings one could always hear 
the darkies singing their favorite old songs. 
Now and then there would be the strumming 
of a banjo, and at intervals the barking of a 
dog would break the melody. Life was pleas¬ 
ant for the children in those days. 

When the rain came and the children could 
not be out-of-doors, they all enjoyed playing 
in the carriage. The old-fashioned carriages 
were built high from the ground, and a step 
let down for the ladies to ascend. Sam, a 
small negro boy, would play coachman, and 
with great dignity would bow and help little 


94 



A SOUTHERN STORY 


Missy into the coach. Then he would mount 
to the driver’s seat and make a great deal of 
noise as he called to the imaginary horses. 

Another rainy day diversion was the visits 
to the attic, when the little girls dressed up in 
hoop skirts and the boys in their grand¬ 
father’s old clothes. On one of these visits 
to the attic the children found a wooden doll 
that had come down in the family for several 
generations. Of all the dolls, Joe (for that 
was his name) became the favorite. Very 
little paint was left on his round wooden face, 
and it was gone completely from his feet, 
which were made of lead. But this was one of 
his charms, for with his leaden feet he could 
be made to write on bits of paper. This, the 
children said, was his way of talking. 

Joe, being the only man of the doll family, 
was exceedingly popular. Often he served as 
the groom at weddings. He was always the 
candidate at baptisms because the water 
never damaged him other than making his 
joints swell. 

Whenever a cat or a chicken died there 
would be a great funeral. Sometimes Sam 


95 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


would be the preacher and again Harry, his 
young master, would conduct the services. 
Little Missy and all the negroes from the 
quarters would take the parts of pallbearers, 
flower bearers, and mourners. Tombstones 
were very numerous in the animal grave¬ 
yard. 

One day Aunt Martha called the children 
to her cabin. “Honey chillun,” said she, 
“po’ ole Lily done gone and got daid. Mighty 
fine ole Lily. Have to have fine fun’ral 
for him.” 

The departed Lily was a very old cat, black 
as night. His teeth had long ago disappeared, 
and his pink tongue, having nothing to hold 
it in place, was invariably hanging out. He 
had been given the name of Lily by a mis¬ 
chievous young uncle of the children. 

The death of such an important member 
of the household was received with great 
solemnity, and preparations at once began 
for a big funeral. Aunt Martha, Aunt Sarah, 
and Uncle Jerry, of the grown-up negroes, 
were invited, as well as the white folk from 
the big house. The funeral was to be under 


96 





THE LITTLE GIRLS DRESSED UP IN HOOP SKIRTS AND THE BOYS IN 
THEIR GRANDFATHER’S OLD CLOTHES 
















A SOUTHERN STORY 

a large sycamore tree and the friends were 
urged to be on time. 

Meantime the children were very busy. 
Quite a problem presented itself concerning 
Lily’s coffin. 

“I know the very thing,” said Harry. 

“What dat?” asked Sam. 

“I know where a fine cheese box is,” said 
Harry. 

“Now jes’ lissen to dat. Who eber see a 
round coffin? Ha, ha, you mus’ think ole Lily 
so fat he broad as he is long.” 

Harry’s face fell, but after all nothing else 
could be found. Aunt Sarah comforted them 
by covering the round cheese box with some 
black cloth and putting on two handles made 
of cords for the convenience of the pall¬ 
bearers. The round box was then considered 
quite an appropriate and suitable casket for 
Lily. 

All of the mourners arrived, and soon the 
first hymn was over. The closing verse and 
chorus was lustily sung by the little darkies 
who had learned it when they were mere 
babies. The words went like this: 


99 


THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Dar’s a golden harp in de hebben, I know, 

A golden harp in de hebben, I know, 

A golden harp in de hebben, I know, 

An' I don’ want her leave-a me behind. 
Dar’s silver slippers in de hebben, I know, 
Silver slippers in de hebben, I know, 

And I don* want her leave-a me behind.” 


Chorus 

“Good news, de chariot’s com-in, good news, 
de chariot’s com-in, 

Good news, good news, de good news, 

Good news, chariot’s com-in. 

I don’ want her leave-a me behind.” 


The sermon was just starting, when one 
of the little black mourners suddenly spied a 
long green watermelon which had been 
brought by one of the white folks. He looked 
at Sam, who was doing the preaching, and 
pointed to the melon. 

No sooner had Sam’s eyes alighted on the 
luscious melon than he quickly said, “De 
services will be ’eluded at de grabe.” 


100 


A SOUTHERN STORY 


The pallbearers, preacher and chief mourn¬ 
ers picked up the casket, deposited it in the 
grave and hastily covered it with a neat 
mound of earth. Someone had brought a 
lily to plant as a tribute to poor old Lily’s 
memory. Then swiftly the little band joined 
hands, and dancing around the grave began 
to sing: 

“All around the lily bush, 

All around the lily bush, 

All around the lily bush, 

Get out o’ my way and don' you push.” 


The melon was soon cut and the funeral 
services ended in a happy feast. That eve¬ 
ning the children slipped out and gathered 
around the doorway of Aunt Martha’s cabin. 
Their minds turned back to the funeral of 
the afternoon. 

“Aunt Martha,” said Harry, “are you 
scared of ghosts?” 

“Now, chile, how come you ax me dat?” 

“Well,” said he, “do you think old Lily 
would haunt us?” 


101 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 



“No, chile, they ain’t no danger of passin’ 
a animal grabe yard at night, cause they 
never pestah nobody; but look out for ghosts 
when you passes a sure ’nuf folks grab© 
yard.” 

At this a half-grown negro boy named 
Noah (always called Norah) joined in the 
conversation, backing up Aunt Martha in 
her story of the ghosts. 

“Yes, sir,” said he, “ever’ time I pass de 
grabe yard de ghosts come out and whoop 
my legs ’til dey git great welts on ’em, dey 
sho’ly does.” 

Aunt Martha got so excited that her eyes 
and mouth were both open wide. The large 
gold tooth that had been given to her for a 
Christmas present by Uncle Jerry gleamed 
forth in its splendor. The excitement was 
growing all the time and it was well that 
Harry’s mother called for him to come home 
just at that time. 

So the happy, carefree days came and 
went, until one day Harry’s father came in 
and announced that war had been declared. 
There were days of anxiety and hardship, 


102 




A SOUTHERN STORY 


but the flowers still bloomed at Rose Villa 
and the days were filled with interest for the 
children. One day some men came to see 
their father, and after waiting several days 
in the hospitable home, they asked if they 
could bury the gold that belonged to the Con¬ 
federate government. At midnight they went 
out into the grounds, where they secretly dug 
away the earth and buried the gold at the 
foot of a yellow jasmine. 

Hardly had they finished when news came 
that the enemy was approaching. Straight 
to Rose Villa came the officers and explained 
that they would like to use the house for 
headquarters for the staff. The family had 
to give up all but two rooms and were sure 
they would be badly used. But to their sur¬ 
prise, they were treated with great kindness. 
The general gave genuine coffee to the lady, 
a thing they had all done without since the 
beginning of the war. 

All over the adjoining yards as well as 
their own the tents were pitched, and the 
soldiers camped. Harry became a favorite 
with many of them at once. 


103 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


Suddenly one night without warning they 
decided to search the grounds for treasure. 
The family waited breathlessly, but to their 
great relief the gold was not found. 

Months after the close of the war men 
bearing messages in code came for the gold 
which lay undisturbed at the foot of the 
yellow jasmine. 

When the soldiers left they presented 
Harry with a handsome sword. 

“What did they give Missy?” asked one 
little girl. 

“Well,” said Miss Virginia, “that is the 
best part of all. One of the finest officers 
of the entire army came to think so much of 
little Missy that when he left he asked her 
always to remember him. He was captured 
soon after that and spent many long days in 
prison.” 

“Did he carve the peach stone basket?” 
asked the children. 

“Yes,” said the Beautiful Lady, “and he it 
was who sent it to Little Missy, who after¬ 
wards became his bride.” 


104 




A SOUTHERN STORY 


“How did you get it?” asked the children. 
“Because Little Missy was my own dear 
grandmother,” she replied. 



105 




A BOOK WEEK STORY 
The Kitten That Was Left Out 


i i'VVT’ AS that a really true story?” the chil- 
▼▼ dren asked the Beautiful Lady as 
she laid down the book she had been reading 
to them. The story was about Robinson 
Crusoe and his wonderful adventures on the 
desert island. The children were much ex¬ 
cited and had been singing: 

“Poor old Robinson Crusoe, 

Poor old Robinson Crusoe, 

He had his man Friday 
To keep his house tidy, 

And that was his duty to do so.” 


106 



A BOOK WEEK STORY 


They all began asking questions about 
their favorite book characters until the Beau¬ 
tiful Lady had to consult the Crystal Locket. 

“I see a beautiful story today,” said she, 
“one that will answer all of your questions.” 

“Do tell us quickly,” they shouted at once. 

“Well,” she began, “I see two children, a 
little boy and his sister, sitting by a table in 
the children’s room of a large city library, 
and. I am sure you will like to hear about 
them. 

Every afternoon after school these chil¬ 
dren could be seen in the library reading 
their favorite books. They knew just where 
to find each book they liked best, and some¬ 
times the librarian let them help to put the 
books in their proper places on the shelves. 
One day they ventured to ask her this ques¬ 
tion: 

“Will you tell us if all the wonderful stories 
we read are true?” 

“Why bless your hearts, you must see for 
yourselves,” she replied. “I will tell you a 
very great secret that I have never told be- 


107 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


fore. You children love my little book chil¬ 
dren so much that I am sure they will not 
care if I tell you. You know the book children 
are very, very dear to me, for it is I who buy 
them fresh and new from the stores. I care¬ 
fully prepare them for the shelves, and when 
a thoughtless child soils them and tears the 
pages, it is I who wipe away the soil and 
mend the injured pages. So you see, I love 
them very much. It is because you love them, 
too, that I will tell you the secret. 

“Somewhere in the side of the wall of the 
library is an invisible door. No one on earth 
can find it. Once a year just at midnight, 
one of the book friends takes a tiny key and 
unlocks the door. The Pied Piper plays upon 
his pipe and all of the little book people come 
scampering pell mell from their places on 
the shelves, through the door and out on the 
soft, green lawn which surrounds the 
library.” 

The children’s eyes were very wide with 
excitement. 

“Do you think we could ever see them?” 
they asked. 


108 



A BOOK WEEK STORY 


“If I tell you the night they come out, you 
may, but you must never tell a living soul.” 

“We will never, never tell,” promised the 
children, and crossed their hearts to their 
library friend. 

The night mentioned was about a month 
from the time she told them the secret, but it 
seemed to them more than a year. How 
could they wait a whole month? Each after¬ 
noon found them at the library reading about 
each of their favorite characters. They would 
give the librarian an understanding smile as 
they waved good-bye each afternoon. 

Every spare moment the children talked 
and planned for the wonderful night. How 
would they get away without letting their 
father and mother know, and would they be 
afraid to go so far away from their home in 
the dark? 

The days finally dragged by, and now only 
one more day remained. Suppose it should 
be raining? Would the little people come out 
if it were? But the sun was shining brightly 
when they arose next morning, and not a 
cloud marred the sky. 


109 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


It was very hard indeed to keep their 
minds on their lessons that day, and their 
teacher had to speak twice before they heard 
her. 

School was over and the children went 
home, talking in whispers to each other. 
Supper time came, but they ate very little, 
and their mother wondered what was the 
matter. 

They tried very hard to study, and about 
nine o’clock went to bed. The moon was shin¬ 
ing and the children crept into bed with their 
clothes on. It seemed to them that their 
mother and father would never put out the 
light and retire, but after a long time, they 
put out all the lights, and everything was 
quiet. 

About half an hour before midnight, out 
came the children ever so softly, and taking 
their shoes in their hands, they crept down 
the stairs and out into the front yard. Here 
they put on their shoes, ran across the lawn, 
and then climbed over the fence. 

They had never been out so late by them¬ 
selves. The shadows seemed very deep and 


no 



A BOOK WEEK STORY 


dark and there were noises that they had 
never noticed in the daytime. But for all 
this, the children had no idea of turning back 
after planning so long for this night. 

By the time they came in sight of the big 
library building they were quite out of breath 
and their hearts were beating in a curious 
way. 

“I am awfully scared,” said the little girl. 

The brother would not admit that he was 
frightened, but his teeth chattered as he 
spoke. 

Nearer and nearer they came, and now 
they were at the entrance of the children’s 
room. Everything was dark, and it was not 
until they started to open the door that they 
saw their library lady smiling at them. How 
happy they were to see her! 

Hardly had they gone inside when a faint 
light appeared, not from the electric lights, 
but from the soft glow that the fairies use 
at night. 

The clock on the library wall began strik¬ 
ing the hour—one, two, three, four, five, six, 
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. 


111 




THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


From the shelves on the north side of the 
room came a sound of music, and out scram¬ 
bled the Pied Piper of Hamelin playing his 
pipe. Instead of the rats, all of the little book 
people came hopping and skipping from the 
shelves, and followed him to the little door 
which, at a magic word, had swung open. 

“Come outside,” said the library lady, and 
she led the children out where they sat on 
the lawn and watched the little book people 
marching out to the strains of the piper’s 
music. 

“Some of these little people have come out 
for many, many years as you will see,” she 
said, “but tonight you will also see some of 
our newer friends. Now let’s see who we 
have here.” 

“Oh, oh,” said the little boy, “there are 
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and yes, 
there is Pinocchio!” 

The little girl could hardly keep seated 
when she saw Heidi with her goat, and just 
back of her was Rebecca of Sunnybrook 
Farm. 

“See the hole in her stocking,” said the 


112 







■ V 

1 ft 

If 

ij yi 



fi n 


TO 



So 

cfv/f 


re 

* 




ALL OF THE LITTLE BOOK PEOPLE CAME HOPPING AND SKIPPING 
ALL U FROM THE SHELVES 














































































. 





























A BOOK WEEK STORY 


librarian, “and the shoe polish on her leg to 
keep the skin from showing.” 

Now above the sound of the music, the chil¬ 
dren heard a fierce growling of tigers, and 
as they drew close together, they saw Little 
Black Sambo with his little red coat, his little 
blue trousers, his purple shoes with crimson 
linings, and his little green parasol. 

Before they had much time to be afraid, 
out bounded Peter Rabbit, who immediately 
began nipping a flower in the library flower 
bed. 

An old negro man with grey hair and large 
steel spectacles was telling stories to a little 
boy, and this the children knew was Uncle 
Remus. 

“Now listen, children, and see if you know 
who this is,” said their friend. 

The children listened intently, and all at 
once they heard a noise as though someone 
was chewing with her mouth open. 

“I know, I know,” said the little girl. “It 
is Noisy Nora.” And sure enough, it was. 
Here came Noisy Nora holding a sandwich 
in both hands, and chewing with her mouth 


115 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


open. Just back of her was the Spinach Boy. 

Never in their lives had the children had 
such a good time. While the little boy was 
talking with Ola, his sister was in ecstasy 
over a small wooden doll made of ash, and 
dressed in a quaint old-fashioned gown. This 
was Hitty. Just back of her was Dr. Do- 
little, who was taking several of his animal 
patients with him. Gub-gub was following 
him closely. 

“Look over in that corner,” said the library 
lady, “and see what you think of that." 

As the children looked they really seemed 
to see Millions of Cats—cats everywhere; 
some meowing, some purring, some playing, 
and some fighting. 

All over the lawn the little people were 
gathered. Here came Aunt Brown, Aunt 
Green and Aunt Lavender with their dear 
little dog who was wearing black bows be¬ 
cause all of the Aunts were with him. Not 
far from them was The Kitten Who Grew Too 
Fat, and The Cat Who Went to Heaven. 

The children took great delight in talking 
to Snipp, Snapp and Snurr, the three little 
Swedish boys, who told them how they 


116 



A BOOK WEEK STORY 


worked to make the money to buy their 
mother a pair of red slippers, lined with gold, 
for her birthday. 

The time seemed to fly, and before they 
could believe it, there was a streak of dawn 
in the sky. 

When the Pied Piper blew a loud blast on 
his horn, the little book people fell into line 
without a moment’s delay, marched toward 
the little door and were about to enter. Sud¬ 
denly they heard a strain of beautiful music, 
and they knew that it was the Trumpeter of 
Krakow. They stopped a minute to listen, 
then turning to wave good-bye to the library 
lady and the children, they trooped back into 
the library and were lost to sight. 

In a few minutes when the three went back 
into the room to lock the door not a soul could 
be seen, and each book was standing on the 
shelf just as the library lady had left them. 

No one would ever have known that any¬ 
thing had happened but for the fact that 
there were so many, many cats that one little 
kitten out of the millions was not quick 
enough, and was left out on the floor meow¬ 
ing sadly. 


117 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Oh, the dear little thing,” said the little 
girl. “May I take it home to help me remem¬ 
ber this wonderful, wonderful night?” 

The librarian gave her permission, and 
after kissing her good-night, the two chil¬ 
dren quickly went home, taking with them 
the kitten that was left out. 



118 





A STORY OF KIND DEEDS 
Odessa’s Magic Mirror 


T he last day of vacation had arrived, and 
it would be some time before the children 
could have another story. They waited 
around for some while, hoping Miss Virginia 
would come out into the garden. Their moth¬ 
ers had told them not to ring the bell for fear 
of disturbing their good friend while she was 
resting. 

They were just about to turn away when 


119 


THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


one of the children proposed that they sing 
a song and let the Beautiful Lady know they 
were there. Hardly had they finished the first 
verse when they saw a flutter of white, and 
soon she was seated among them. 

At first they were afraid there would be 
no story, for they saw nothing of the Locket, 
but as soon as she had talked with them 
awhile she drew forth the slender gold chain 
which held the gleaming Crystal Locket and 
began: 

Once upon a time there was a very rich 
man who lived in a mansion. Surrounding 
the house were wonderful gardens filled with 
rare flowers and shrubs from all parts of the 
world. There was a sparkling fountain, ad¬ 
mired by everyone. The basin of this foun¬ 
tain was adorned by a delicate figure of a 
girl carved from white marble. In her hand 
she held a dainty parasol and the spray from 
the fountain was so arranged that the spar¬ 
kling drops appeared to be falling from the 
parasol like rain. 

There were peacocks proudly strutting 


120 



A STORY OF KIND DEEDS 


around the grounds, spreading their gor¬ 
geous tails of gold and blue-green feathers. 
In the stream the goldfish flashed their 
golden scales as the sunlight shone upon 
them, and the pink and yellow water lilies 
made a perfect hiding place for them when 
they wanted shelter. 

There were many servants to care for the 
home and gardens. But the old man was 
very lonely. One by one his family had gone 
until he was all alone, and, in spite of his 
riches, he was never quite happy. It had been 
several years since his only son had left home 
for a long trip in foreign countries and the 
father had almost lost hope of ever seeing 
him again. He had tried in many ways to 
get news of him, but always without success. 

Although he had great riches, the old man 
had very few friends. People thought him 
queer, but in reality he was only lonely and 
sad. Each day he would take long rides into 
the country, sometimes taking his chauffeur, 
but often driving alone. 

One particularly lovely spring day he de¬ 
cided to take a new road, one that led through 
a part of the town that was new to him. 


121 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


There had been a shower, and as he reached 
a short stretch of unpaved road, the car sud¬ 
denly swerved and before he could stop, 
crashed into a tree that grew on the sidewalk 
in front of a house. 

Quickly a little girl darted out of the gate 
and went at once to see if anyone was hurt. 
She called her brother, and together they 
helped the injured man into the house. When 
the doctor came he said it would be some 
time before he could walk. The children did 
not dream that he was so wealthy, and 
begged him to stay with them until he was 
better. He thanked them warmly and asked 
the young girl, whose name he found was 
Odessa, to come to see him, saying he would 
send for her in a few days. 

Several days passed before a splendid car 
drove up and Odessa knew that her friend 
had sent for her. In her hand she carried a 
dainty box of cakes for him. 

When the car stopped in front of the man¬ 
sion she could scarcely believe her eyes, and 
as she was ushered into the great room she 
could scarcely speak. Her friend held out 
his hand to greet her. 


122 



A STORY OF KIND DEEDS 


“I did not know how rich you were,” she 
shyly said. “I was going to give you this box 
of cakes that Mother made, but I suppose 
you have cake every day.” 

She timidly sat down in a large chair near 
his couch while the maid took her coat and 
hat. 

The sick man was eagerly unwrapping the 
box and seemed as pleased as a boy to get 
the cakes which she had cut in various fancy 
shapes. 

“Thank you very much, my child,” said he. 
“Money is worth very little in this world 
compared with kindly deeds.” 

There were so many things of interest that 
Odessa wished he would tell her about, but 
she was too timid to ask many questions. 
There were large glass cabinets filled with 
exquisite curios. 

After awhile, fearing the girl might be 
getting tired, he rang for one of the servants 
and asked that she be shown the garden and 
allowed to gather as many roses as she liked 
to take to her mother. When she bade him 
good-bye there was a smile on his face, and 


123 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


he asked her if she would come again the 
next week to see him. 

Again and again Odessa called to see her 
friend for many weeks following. Always 
there was something beautiful to be seen, 
and the wonderful stories that he told about 
his treasures made her forget the passing of 
time. 

One day when she was sitting in the large 
living room he said, 

“My little friend, look at my desk, and just 
to one side you will see a tiny button. Push 
this and you will see what will happen.” 

Odessa did as she was told and all of a 
sudden a drawer slid out. 

“Look in and see what you can find,” he 
said. 

Odessa took out a flat leather case. 

“Bring it to me and I will open it for you.” 

As Odessa put the case in his hand she 
leaned over to see what would happen next. 
He removed the box, touched a spring, and 
when the lid flew open there on a satin lining 
lay the most beautiful mirror the girl had 
ever seen. 

The mounting for the mirror was of carved 


124 



A STORY OF KIND DEEDS 


pearl. On the back was a lyre surrounded 
by wonderful leaves and flowers. There was 
a clasp of pure gold around the handle and 
this was set with gems of great brilliance. 
In the center was a large aquamarine sur¬ 
rounded by rubies. Around the edge of the 
mirror were flowers with ruby centers and 
tiny stars between. 

Odessa thought this was the most beauti¬ 
ful thing she had ever seen, and dreamed of 
happiness if only she might be allowed to 
hold it in her hand. 

“My dear little girl,” said the old man, 
“this mirror is for you. A lonely old man has 
found cheer and hope in your kindness to 
him, and now I give to you my choicest trea¬ 
sure.” 

Odessa could hardly believe her good for¬ 
tune and was just starting to thank him when 
he said, “You may think the mirror is beau¬ 
tiful to gaze upon, but there is something of 
far greater value than its beauty, for it is a 
magic mirror. 

“When the man of your choice comes along 
have him look over your shoulder into the 
mirror. If he is not the right man his reflec¬ 


ts 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


tion will be blurred, but if he should prove to 
be the right one, his face will shine forth 
clear and bright and the little lyre will play 
a tune of faint, silvery music. May God bless 
you for your kindness to a lonely old man.” 

Odessa was very happy on her way home 
in the splendid car. She was in raptures when 
she showed the wonderful present to her 
mother. It was kept with great care under 
lock and key and only brought out on special 
occasions for friends to see. While the girl 
cherished her treasure with much pride, she 
almost forgot about the magic power, for 
she knew it would be a long time before she 
saw the man of her choice. 

Several years went by, and Odessa grew 
into a beautiful young woman. In the winter 
she was away at school, but during vacation 
times she always spent many hours with her 
old friend. 

At last her school days came to a close. A 
fine-looking young man from a nearby town 
asked her to be his bride. Up until now she 
had forgotten that the magic mirror would 
help her choose the right man. But now she 
remembered and quickly brought it forth 


126 






ODESSA COULD HARDLY BELIEVE HER GOOD FORTUNE 








A STORY OF KIND DEEDS 


to test its powers, never doubting that all 
would be well. To her great surprise, when 
her suitor looked into the glass all was dark 
and smoky. Alas! she knew he was not the 
right man. 

Each time she put succeeding suitors to 
this test the same thing happened and Odessa 
began to fear that the right young man 
would never come. But so much faith had 
she in the power of the mirror, and so much 
confidence in her old friend, that she vowed 
she would never marry a man who could not 
stand the magic test. 

One day she was sitting on the porch with 
her mother when she looked out, and whom 
should she see in a car but her old friend? 
Odessa had never seen him so happy. 
His face was wreathed in smiles as he waved 
at her. With him was another man who got 
out of the car, and together the two reached 
the porch. He could hardly wait for her to 
meet his son who had at last come home after 
many months spent on a faraway island. 

The young man had been told the story of 
Odessa’s kindness to his father through all 
the weary months and years, and not many 

129 





THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


months passed before he decided that he 
wanted her, above all other girls in the world, 
for his wife. 

From its case came the magic mirror, and 
when he gazed over her shoulder, she heard a 
faint note of music from the little pearl lyre. 
This time the mirror was not blurred, but in¬ 
stead, reflected clearly and brightly the 
young man’s face. She was especially pleased 
that the mirror’s choice had been the son of 
her dear old friend. 



130 




A SEA STORY 
Nautilus the Mermaid 

T HE Beautiful Lady had a faraway look 
in her eyes as she started to tell her story 
one cold November day. Outside the snow 
was beginning to fall in great flakes, and the 
children crept closer to the fire. 

Since the flowers were no longer blooming, 
the boys and girls had brought their friend 
some red berries, called bittersweet, and 
sprigs of holly from the woods. Miss Vir¬ 
ginia had placed these in bright jars which 
made the room look very cheerful. 


131 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


The Beautiful Lady held the Crystal Locket 
in her hand, but the children noticed she did 
not look into it as closely as usual. Instead 
she seemed to be gazing straight ahead, and 
her face wore a smile as she talked on and 
on to the children. 

This is the story she told: 

Once upon a time there lived a little girl 
named Virginia who dearly loved the sea. 
Every summer as far back as she could re¬ 
member, her father and mother had taken 
her to the beach. There were not many peo¬ 
ple living near their cottage, and many times 
the little girl had to play by herself in the 
shining white sand. Often she longed for a 
playmate to share the interesting things she 
found to do. 

One summer just after she had finished the 
school term her father went ahead to see that 
everything was ready at the seashore. When 
he came back he reported that another cot¬ 
tage was being built just next to their own, 
and would probably be completed by the time 
they would be making their pilgrimage to 
the beach. The little girl was very eager to 


132 




A SEA STORY 


see whether there would be any children in 
the new cottage with whom she could play. 

At last the time came for them to go. 
Everything was packed, and the city house 
was cleared for the summer. Even the little 
dog, Bobbie, who always accompanied them, 
seemed eager to be off. 

Since they arrived at night and found the 
new cottage quite dark, the little girl had to 
be content to wait until morning to see about 
her new neighbors. 

It seemed as if she had hardly been asleep 
before the bright sunshine crept into her 
room. She rubbed her eyes and quickly 
dressed and was out on the beach. How beau¬ 
tiful the water looked in the early morning. 
The sunshine had tipped the waves with gold 
and the white sand looked almost like snow. 

Just as she started in to her breakfast she 
saw a man come out of the house next door. 
To her delight, he was accompanied by a 
little boy about her own age. 

As they drew near, she saw that the little 
boy had large, brown eyes and dark curly 
hair, but was very pale and thin. Just then 
the man smiled at the little girl and said, 


133 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


“Come, little goldilocks, and tell me your 
name.” 

The little girl smiled back, and told him 
her name was Virginia. “This is Larry,” said 
the man with the smile, “and you must be 
good friends. Larry has been ill for a long 
time, but in this wonderful air he will soon 
have rosy cheeks and be strong again.” 

The children agreed to meet right after 
breakfast. 

Soon they came out—the little boy with a 
small shovel and bucket in which to gather 
shells. Virginia had been coming for so many 
summers that she knew where to find many 
interesting things, and Larry was glad to 
have her lead the way. He had never seen the 
crabs before and laughed aloud as he 
watched them travel along in their queer 
sidling manner. 

As the waves came in and broke along the 
shore the children would quickly run to see 
if any new kinds of shells had been left on 
the sand. 

As the happy days flew swiftly by, Larry 
and Virginia soon became fast friends. At 
first Larry’s mother would not let him walk 


134 



A SEA STORY 


very far lest he should grow too tired. So 
when they had stopped their play Larry and 
Virginia would sit on the sand and talk. 
Sometimes they would talk about treasures 
that were on the bottom of the ocean and 
wonder if the waves would ever wash any 
gold ashore. Then again the talk would be 
about life in the sea. 

One day Virginia asked Larry if he be¬ 
lieved in mermaids. 

“I don’t know. Do you?” he asked. 

“Surely,” said Virginia. “My mother read 
me a lovely story about a dear little mermaid 
who got lost.” 

“I should have to see one before I believe,” 
said Larry in a doubting voice. 

“Let’s try ever so hard to see one and 
maybe we shall some day,” said Virginia. “I 
have heard that mermaids are very fond of 
music and can be lured ashore if they hear 
it.” 

To this Larry made no reply but began to 
think very hard and make some plans which 
he decided he would tell to no one. 

Almost six weeks had now passed. Larry’s 


135 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


cheeks had become so rosy and his skin so 
tanned that it was hard to believe he was the 
same boy who had first come to the beach. 

One morning Larry started out as usual, 
but Virginia did not join him. He was espe¬ 
cially anxious to see her on this particular 
morning, for it was his birthday and he was 
six years old. After waiting some time, he 
decided to go to her home. He was very sad 
indeed when her mother told him she was ill 
and would have to remain in bed all day. 

Very much disappointed, Larry started off 
by himself. When he was quite out of sight 
of the houses, he sat down on the sand and 
began to think. 

“Now is my chance,” thought he. “If I ever 
see a mermaid it will be at this time.” 

From his pocket he drew a mouth organ 
and began to play just one tune, a piece that 
to him was very beautiful. What a wonderful 
birthday it would be if only he could call a 
mermaid! 

Timidly he began his little tune, but after 
awhile he gathered courage and played 
louder. For some time the music went on, 


136 




A SEA STORY 


but after awhile it grew fainter and fainter 
and finally died away. The little player had 
fallen asleep. 

How long he slept he never knew, but all 
of a sudden he was awakened by a splashing 
sound quite near him and a little song like 
the music of the waves. He quickly opened 
his eyes and there in the edge of the water 
was a lovely mermaid. Her eyes were the 
blue-green color of the sea and her hair like 
spun gold. Instead of chubby legs and feet 
like his own and Virginia’s, the mermaid had 
to swim about with a fish tail, and on the 
lower part of her body the bright scales glit¬ 
tered in all colors of the rainbow. At her side 
was a beautiful little chariot made from 
mother-of-pearl and wheels of pure gold. It 
was drawn by four sea horses which wore 
jeweled harness. Larry could hardly believe 
his eyes and had just about decided that he 
was still sleeping and it was all a dream, 
when suddenly the mermaid began to speak. 

“Larry,” said she, “I heard your music, and 
I knew you were calling me, so I came from 
far out in the ocean, so far that no human 


137 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


has ever been able to find the place. King 
Neptune rules our country under the sea, and 
I live near his wonderful castle. How I should 
like to take you back with me, but no mortal 
ever comes back when once he has found us. 
This, however, will not keep me from being 
your little sea friend. Each year on your 
birthday, if you will come to this same spot 
and play me that same tune, I will come to 
you, but on one condition: that you will never 
tell a living soul.” 

With this she told him to hold out his hand 
and in it she placed a pearl of wondrous 
beauty. 

Fifteen more years had passed by and 
Larry had grown to be a young man. He 
had finished college and was starting in busi¬ 
ness with his father. On his twenty-first 
birthday the lovely mermaid came to him 
for the last time. 

“Now,” said she, “I am giving you your 
last pearl, and with it a strand of my golden 
hair on which you are to string the pearls. 
Whenever you see the girl of your choice, 
clasp around her throat the necklace of 
pearls and she will then be yours. And now 


138 






THERE IN THE EDGE OF THE WATER WAS A LOVELY MERMAID 


/ 
















A SEA STORY 


I shall see you no more, dear Larry, but from 
our home far out in the sea we shall be watch¬ 
ing- over you and always wishing you suc¬ 
cess/' 

It was a sad heart that Larry carried home 
with him as he thought that he never could 
see the mermaid again. He always carried 
the necklace of pearls in his pocket, but had 
almost forgotten what she had told him about 
them. 

In the meantime Virginia had gone on a 
long trip around the world. She had visited 
many countries of great interest and written 
Larry long letters about the wonderful 
things she had seen. At last the day arrived 
when she was to land, and Larry planned to 
meet her. 

A few hours before time for the big ship 
to arrive news came that there had been a 
shipwreck and the passengers had been 
forced to use the life boats. There were 
many anxious hearts as men and women 
awaited the arrival of their loved ones. 
Larry was in despair as he thought of Vir¬ 
ginia. On into the night he waited, when all 
of a sudden a tiny speck appeared far out on 


141 



THE CRYSTAL LOCKET 


the waves as far as he could see. Closer and 
closer it came and finally he made out the 
outline of a life boat. As it came nearer, he 
saw that a young woman was in it. Then it 
was washed ashore. 

To his astonishment, he saw that the young 
woman was Virginia. She was so pale and 
lifeless that Larry thought she was dead. He 
laid her gently on the soft sand, and, as he 
reached in his pocket for his handkerchief, 
he felt the pearls and remembered the words 
of Nautilus. Quickly he clasped the neck¬ 
lace around Virginia’s throat. As she opened 
her eyes and saw him kneeling there, the 
color began to return to her cheeks at once. 

The children were so interested in the 
story that they were hardly aware of a knock 
at the door. A tall young man with shining 
brown eyes and dark curly hair was stand¬ 
ing there. 

“Children,” said the Beautiful Lady, “this 
is Larry.” 

“And you, our Beautiful Lady, are the Vir¬ 
ginia of the story,” added the children. 


142 




A SEA STORY 


Just then she showed them the necklace of 
pearls which Larry had been keeping for her 
in his pocket. When he clasped it around her 
throat the children declared it was very love¬ 
ly, but they made her promise that whenever 
they came to see her as Larry’s wife she 
would always wear for them the thin gold 
chain on which hung the Crystal Locket. 

































































































































































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